Funding to help athletes rebound from injury

Researchers from the University of Newcastle (UON) will work alongside the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Basketball Australia to improve injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies for athletes, as part of a new study investigating hamstring and adductor muscle strain injuries.

Dr Suzi Edwards and her team will study top male Australian basketball players over three years to determine the different biomechanical factors involved in muscle injuries, which could minimise risk factors in other sporting codes nationally and internationally.

“Hamstring and adductor injuries are the two leading myotendinous injuries in basketball players, but athletes of any sport are susceptible to injuring their thigh muscles when they attempt to suddenly slow down or speed up their running speed,” explained Dr Edwards.

“Our findings will improve the understanding of risk factors of injury and re-injury in basketball and will be applicable to other sports such as soccer and football that have a high incidence and reoccurrence rate of these injuries,” she added.

The study received over $390,000 in funding from a strategic partnership between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and General Electric (GE) Healthcare that aims to address injuries affecting NBA players and everyday athletes.

AIS co-investigator and Senior Sports Physiotherapist, Mick Drew, said as the country’s leading sports training institute the AIS looks forward to working collaboratively on the project and being at the forefront of developing new methods to optimise athletic recovery.

“Injuries affect both the long term health of athletes and they also interrupt their athletic careers and goals. By working with Basketball Australia and University of Newcastle, we have the potential to turn around the rate of injury and to minimise the same injuries reoccurring”, said Mr Drew.